Ugly: The 19th Hunger Games
by Juliet's Shadow
Summary: Thimble Harris is ugly. He knows if he goes into the games he won't come out. In a time when fashion is everything the perfect victor must win. The odds are not in Thimble's favor as he goes into the games.
1. Chapter 1

**Happy New Years! What better way to celebrate the last day of 2012 with a new story? Please read and leave a review! **

Chapter 1

They say looks aren't everything. Everyone has an equal shot in the games. At the same time, no one has ever heard of an ugly victor. All eighteen victors have been beautiful. If I was reaped, I wouldn't stand a chance.

I saw someone ugly go into the arena once. It was four years ago, I was thirteen, and the tribute was from District 6. He didn't make it past the first half hour.

"Thimble, get ready for the reaping!" I don't know why my mother bothers telling me to get ready. I'm hideous. I wasn't born hideous, I had an accident when I was ten.

Cotton, my twin sister, is lovely. She comes out of our little room wearing a pale blue dress. She twirls and spins, making her curly black hair fall in line behind her. She doesn't ask how she looks. She hasn't since the accident. "You look lovely today."

She makes a face, squinting her big blue eyes and wrinkling her nose. "Thimble, I don't want to be called lovely. I want to be called your sister."

"Well you're that too." She sighs and goes to our pile of clothes. She pulls out a white button down and some khaki pants for me to put on. Once they are on, she sits me down in front of the mirror.

I hate mirrors. I hate looking at my face. My hair, once as black as Cotton's is patchy gray and stringy, my skin is bleached, making me look abnormally pale and I am missing my lower right lip, so one canine sticks out between blood colored skin. My face is scarred, my hands are too. Their painted multiple colors because of dyes.

Cotton tries to make me look presentable, brushing parts of my hair into certain forms, but it's brittle and thin. It never stays. I suddenly stand up. "Let's go. It's almost 10 o'clock."

She sighs and runs to grab something quickly. She comes back with a red woven scarf. "A dash of color never hurt anyone."

We leave the house. Cotton stays close to me while everyone else makes a beeline to avoid me. I shake my head. "Don't worry, Thimble. One day they'll know you are just as good, if not better, than them"

I look her dead in the bright blue eyes. "Then why was it me? Why did I have to get stuck in that stupid machine?"

_Rippp. Rippp. First sign something is wrong. We're suppose to call for help. "My machine is making noises!" _

_"Someone will be there in a moment." I didn't know who yelled that but I didn't question it. No one came until they heard me screaming. It was too late. _

"Thimble! Thimble, are you okay?" Cotton stared at me with big blue eyes.

"I- I'm fine." Cotton shook her head and sighed. She then pulled him in for a long hug. "Hey, what's that for?"

"In case one of us gets reaped." Her blue eyes were swimming in tears.

I sighed. "Cotton, there are thousands of names in those bowls. We've never added our name in so the odds are in our favor." She nodded, gave me one last hug, and walked off to the girls section for our age group.

District Eight's escort was Rosen Vix. Our escort mocked me. He walked to the stage head held high. His hair was gray, but not unhealthy and brittle like mine. His was cut into choppy lengths. He had colors tattooed onto his hands and patters bleached all over his body He wasn't missing part of his lip either; he just had vampire fangs sticking out. And he did all of this in the name of fashion. "Welcome to the reaping of the nineteenth annual Hunger Games!" He looked back and saw no chairs where victors from other games sat. We haven't had one yet. Last year District 12 had one. They were the only district who didn't have one, besides us.

"Let's see who the lucky girl going in for District eight is, shall we?" He reached into a giant glass bowl and pulled out a name. "Indianna Neer!" I didn't recognize that name. No one around me did. We didn't recognize the name because she is five years younger than us. Out of the twelve year old section came a tiny girl. She had bright red hair halfway down her back. Her skin was pale and spotted with freckles. She was very tiny and thin. Her eyes were as bright as her hair, a beautiful shade of blue. They were filled with tears and she started to sniffle. A twelve year old has been reaped before, not here, in District Two. Four years ago. A little boy was reaped and his older cousin volunteered to take his place. He ended up winning. "Any volunteers?"

I looked at the girls section, certain someone would take the young girls spot. No one came. She would be the first twelve year old to compete in the games. "No? No one? Well then, time for the boys." His hand reached into a giant glass bowl containing all the boy's names in the district. "Thimble Harris!"

"No!" I heard Cotton scream. I took a deep breath and started to walk up. Cotton ran out too, her black curly hair bouncing behind her. She shoved out to meet me. "Thimble! Thimble you can't go!"

"Cotton, let go of me."

"Thimble they can't take you! They can't take you! Please!" A peacekeeper came and grabbed her, picked her up like she was no lighter than a feather and pushed me forward. I cooperated as best I could, fighting the urge to run to Cotton's screams and cries, until I got to the stage.

"Well, Thimble, who was that-" He took a look at me and looked like he was at a loss for words. "Who was that… lovely girl?"

"That was my sister." He looked like he didn't believe me. That is his loss.

"Well District Eight, I present your two tributes, Indianna Neer and Thimble Harris!"

**So what do y'all think of Cotton, Indianna and Thimble? Well we've seen our District 8 tributes and next chapter we will get an introduction to our other tributes. Please, once again, leave a review. Reviews help me update faster and I'm sure y'all want to see who is next. By the way, I own all characters except the District 4 female, who is owned by XxNoGoodDeedxX and Indianna is based loosely off of my real life mini me, FallenPetals712. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I sat in the room to say goodbye but no one came. My parents haven't cared about me since the accident and the Peacekeepers were probably making sure Cotton couldn't come see me.

I heard the door to Indianna's room open and close several times. The girl looked poor and poor people tended to stick together. Finally a Peacekeeper came and escorted me out to the train. They kept their face away from mine, not wanting to look at my scars.

Shortly after I arrived Indianna did too. She froze when she saw me. Poor girl. "Hey."

She looked at her feet and nodded her head.

"Hey, Indianna was it? Indianna, I'm not going to hurt you." She sat down in a chair not near me. "Hey, it's okay. Let me introduce myself. I'm Thimble. Did you see that pretty girl who tried to stop me?"

She nodded her head and looked up. "Is she really your sister?"

I nodded. "We're twins actually. I got in an accident when I was ten."

She came and switched to a chair closer to me. "What happened?"

I sighed. "Well you know the machines that make the big pieces of cloth? Well I got stuck in one. When I finally wrestled myself out I knocked over a vat of bleach and it bleached my skin, my hair… I never recovered; I guess you can see that."

She reached out and touched a scar on my face. "Well I think your swell. I'm sorry you got stuck here."

"I'm sorry too." She crawled over my lap like a little kid and grabbed the remote. "Can we see our competition?"

District 1, 2 and 4 were the biggest competition. Everyone could probably beat us but there were a few that stood out in particular. The District 4 girl, Lana Pavati, didn't look like a killer. She was as pale as Indianna and had hair as bright as her. The girl's eyes were bright green but there was something about her. The fact she was as pale as she was, was a comment all in itself. When her name was called she looked shocked. No one volunteered to take her spot. She had long, straight hair reaching her waist easily. She was tall, with a limber thin body, but her arms were also very muscular. You could hardly tell through her simple blue dress but you could tell all the same.

The girl from District 7, Marabelle, I think, also stood out. She had long black hair going easily past her butt. She had blue-gray eyes. She looked a lot like a District 12 tribute, until you saw how muscular she was. There was a presence about her. She could be the center of attention if she wanted, or she could fade into the background. Her bangs covered one eye, making her look darker than she already looked. She was obviously rich, wearing post Victorian style clothing.

The girl from 10 was unforgettable to me. To most she would probably be out shined by outer districts but she was lovely. She had straight dark brown hair the color of milk chocolate, eyes the same color, light olive skin and a beautiful mouth. Her lips were a shade of pink often favored by the Capitol stylists. Her lips were full but not obnoxiously big. She was lovely. Her name was Abeline.

"What do you think, Thimble?" Indianna was looking at me with doe eyes. "Do we have a chance?"

_We would have to ally. Lana looks like she would join the careers but Marabelle and Abeline might be open. _"We should see if we can ally. Maybe with Marabelle and Abeline?"

"Who are they again?"

"The girl from seven and the girl from 10."

She gave me a questioning look. "Why would you want to ally with them? If I didn't remember them-"

I interrupted her. "The girl from seven was the girl who you said you liked her hair. The girl from ten was the pretty brunette wearing the yellow flower dress."

She nodded and looked at me questioningly. "But why them?"

I shrugged. "The only other one that stood out to me and seemed like she could come out alive was the girl from four. She wouldn't ally with us though." Indianna nodded in agreement then looked up again.

"What guarantees the other two would join? I noticed the boy from six and the tributes from five. They seemed pretty good." I softened a bit at the girls gaze.

"I remember them. You remember them because they are so young. Five is known for power. They had no outside training. Neither did six. Transportation? Best they could do is develop a map of Panem. District Seven chops trees. You need an axe to do that. Axes are heavy. The District Seven girl must be strong. District 10 is agriculture herding. She would know how to use a rope and be lethal with it. She could also know how to kill animals. We would be set."

She crossed her arms. "Why would they ally with us if they've got these great skills? What do we do in District Eight? We make fabric. You don't get strong or learn to kill. It's useless. We would die."

I lowered my voice as if I was letting her in on a big secret. "Hey, we have something they don't." She looked up at me. "We have my ugly mug. Maybe we could convince other tributes I was a mutt." I made an even uglier face. "We could scare them off and we could win." She was giggling and I kept tickling her.

"Hey, kids, we've reached the Capitol." Rosen Vix came into our compartment carrying a pile of papers and important looking documents. We ran to the window and I almost looked out, almost forgetting my face, but stopped myself and sat back, letting Indianna wave to the crowd. If I can't win, I'm going to make sure she does.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Ow!" My prep team had fun making me look presentable. They cut my hair into slightly better shapes but there was nothing they could do about the deep red scars and dyed hands. They couldn't cover my missing lip or my tooth that hung out either.

After poking and prodding me for hours they finally sent me to my stylist. She had green eyes, short cut brown hair and a bit of silver eyeliner. She looked normal. "You're- you're a stylist?" She laughed and nodded.

"Yes. Actually it's a family business that my family has been doing for generations. We designed clothes before the games and I'm sure we will long after. I'm Sienna. I'm sorry this happened to you. You're Thimble?" I nodded. "Now I suppose you're wondering how I'll dress you? District Eight is the district of fabric so I could go almost anywhere, couldn't I?" I nodded slowly. "Well we, my partner and I, were very fortunate in our tributes this year."

I looked at her like she was insane. "How? Indianna is very pretty but me? I'm hideous!"

She laughed. "You're not the best looking person I've met, but I'm sure something happened to you if you are like this. Well have you heard any Fairytales? Beauty and the Beast in particular?"

An hour later I am dressed in ripped royalty clothes, unnatural hair pasted to my bare skin and long claws. My scars and hideousness is added upon, highlighting them in a matter making me really look like a man trapped inside a beast body. Maybe that is what I am.

She leads me to the chariots and I catch sight of her. She is walking around in a seashell bra and a flowing skirt that looked like a giant tail. Turquoise sequins wrap up the side of her bare body like scales. Her hair is in waves with turquoise starfish woven into it. Lana. "What the heck are you suppose to be?"

Taking this as my chance, possibly only chance to get her on my team, I seize it. "Well, Little Mermaid, I am the Beast. Beauty and the Beast you know? They thought they would highlight my ugliness, not conceal it."

She rolled her eyes and walked away, going to the District 2 tributes. I sighed and saw Marabelle sitting in the corner by herself. I took the opportunity to go get acquainted. On top of her raven head was a crown made of willow branches. She wore a corseted Victorian style forest green dress with brown trim and wings made of willow tree branches. She was supposed to look like a forest fairy princess but the lack of smiling on her face made it hard to believe. I sat down next to her and held my hand out to shake. "Hey, I'm Thimble."

She reached out and took it. "Marabelle." We sat there in an awkward silence for a while until her district partner came out. "Well it's been great. See ya at the training center?" I nodded and saw a smile peek out of her lips.

I saw Indianna come down the stairs wearing a modest pale pink floor length dress. "Why hello. Beauty." She giggled and I held out my arm. "May I accompany you to your chariot?"

She curtsied low. "Why yes you may."

We started to head that way when a shadow caught my eye. I turned around and saw Abeline wearing a knee length dress as black as night. On her face was smokey eye makeup and tiny bit of silver eyeliner.

I didn't have enough time to gape or to figure out how that represented her district because soon after we were rushed to our chariots. District Seven was rolling out and I could hear the people go crazy for the exquisite costumes. Our chariot started to roll out and the people's screams deafened me. They were cheering for us. I looked up on the screen and we looked like Beauty and the Beast. District Ten rolled out and everything went silent. They both wore black but they were shining, like stars. Behind them flew capes that twinkled. They were beautiful. I guess in most Districts, or the Capital, you couldn't see stars. But, since they needed room for livestock, there was nothing blocking them from seeing stars.

I heard Indianna gasp. "They're so pretty." We seldom saw stars because of the fumes and lights of the factory. She was in awe. As was everyone else. We easily lost to the girl in the stars.

When we finally make it to the chariot line up everyone is staring daggers at her and her partner. Her partner is oblivious but she is staring them all right back. When she sees us looking with awed expressions, she shrugs and looks at the President.

"Welcome Tributes! I expect these games to be the best yet. May the odds be ever in your favor." He said what he was scripted to then went back in. Sienna was smiling approvingly.

"You two were so good!" She pulled me in for a quick hug and gave one to Indianna.

"District 10 was better." I said honestly.

Sienna smiled. "They were good too. Maybe they were the best but you two looked like you came out of a fairytale. You had all eyes on you when you came out. You had some even when District 10 came out."

Sienna helped me get the latex and fake scars off my face. The hideousness that became me during the chariots slowly faded away into a new kind of horror. I looked like I should be dead. Why aren't I dead? I've tried it so many times, anytime I could escape Cotton. Yet she'd always find me hanging from scraps of cloth by my neck in my closet. I should be dead.

The pieces of the costume are finally off and I go up to the rooftop of the training center. I'll die in there anyway; I can just shorten the process. I pull myself onto the very edge and look down. There are blinking neon lights everywhere. The same color as the dyes we use. I just need to take one deep breath and I'll-

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." I look behind me and there is the girl in the stars. She looks different, first time I haven't seen her in a dress. She wears tight fitting navy blue sweat pants that show off her butt nicely, with a white under shirt and a light yellow see through over shirt with a single white stripe on it. Her brown hair, curled earlier, is wet, straight and so dark it's almost black. Her brown eyes are filled with the lights of the city. "I said I wouldn't do that. I saw some other soul, the boy from district 11 I think, try that. He was shot back and now has a large scrape on his eye. Won't help him in the games any. Get down from there."

I don't move and she takes a step towards me and holds out her hand. I feel self conscious about taking hers. It's going to be soft, normal colored, small and fit into my hand so easily. It looks delicate and breakable. When I don't take her hand she grabs mine. I seem aware of every scratch, scar, every rough patch, every color dye and become afraid. I feel her hand. It is soft, gentle and small, like I thought, but strong too. "There, that wasn't so hard? We don't want you dying. You look like you've been through hell already." She then paused. "I guess you don't remember me, I take it I'm one of the more forgettable faces in the games, I'm-"

"Abeline, District Ten. The girl who wore the stars, I know who you are. I'm Thimble."

"Yeah, I know, District Eight. You were amazing on the chariots. Truly looked like a fairytale. That little partner of yours, Indianna, she's cute. You've got an excellent ally in her." I open my mouth to say something when I hear a voice call for her. "That's Tobias. He's my mentor. I- I have to go."

I remember Tobias's games. They were just two years ago. Tobias is tall, muscular, with short cut dark hair, almost black, that barely touches the tips of his ears. He is tanned with a well sculpted body, abs, pecks, and large biceps from working on the ranch. He's eighteen this year, and a haunting reflection of what I could've been. I had dark hair, like him. I am in shape, I could've been attractive but I'm like this. I am like this, and I will never change.

**A/N: I apologize for taking so long with this story. I have little excuse for taking so long with it because I finally have time. Update should be coming at a better pace now so be ready for that. As of right now, this story is looking at thirteen chapters and an epilogue. I am actually almost done with writing chapter four (the reason the updates take so long is I try to write two chapters ahead before publishing the next chapter, but that idea is being a bit slow) but chapter four is training and training scores, chapter five is the interviews and chapter six is the start of the games! So that's exciting. I currently have a poll over who should win. This poll won't effect the outcome of the story (I already have a winner picked) but I want to see who y'all think will triumph. Please be patient with me and keep reading. Thanks so much to my lovely reviewers, my mini me (like I know her in real life, she is my mini me) and XxNoGoodDeedxX who is amazing! **

**Please review because the more I have the faster I update. **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I go to bed that night and dream I am on the rooftop again. I am there with Abeline. We are holding hands, flirting and kissing. I don't look ugly. I lean into kiss her lips and put my hands on her neck. Before I know it they have found their way to her chest and my tongue is dancing with hers. I look into her deep brown eyes and she pulls away. "Who are you?" She screams. "Tell me who you are! What did you do with Thimble?"

"What do you mean? I am Thimble!" I start to pull her in again and she turns away.

"You can't be Thimble. Thimble was never ugly." I look down at my hands, stained with dyes. My hair is gray. I feel my lip and feel a chunk is gone.

"Abeline, wait!" I run to her but I fall off the edge of the roof. I see Abeline walk away with the District Ten victor, Tobias, hand in hand.

I wake up with a start and look around. I'm in a soft Capitol bed. No one is chasing me. There is a soft knocking on my door. "Wake up, Thimble. Training center." I hear Rosen's voice through the door. I get up and pull on a pair of khaki shorts and a gray t-shirt. I put on some tennis shoes and run my fingers through my hair.

Indianna is at the table eating a cheese soufflé and cinnamon buns. I sat down and grabbed a roll and spread some sort of apple cinnamon butter on it. I could feel the flavors dance across my tongue and grabbed four more to eat. "Are you hungry, Thimble?" Indianna was laughing at my stuffed face.

I swallowed the large bite in my mouth and spread some of the butter on a roll and passed it to her. She bit into it and her blue eyes got big. She grabbed another and spread the butter on it. The food was amazing. If, by some miracle, I won the games, this would be my favorite part of visiting the Capitol. "Thimble?"

I look up from my roll and see Rosen's eyes glued on me. "There is training today. Any idea what things you are good at? We have determined Indianna is best at running. Small and swift is a good thing to have in the arena. What do you have to offer?"

I feel underneath my shirt a six pack and can feel my biceps flexing. Years ago, when I was bleached and made pale, my shirt managed to protect most of my upper body. I wore a thick cotton shirt that day, because my pants were thin and full of holes. I reach at the bottom of my shirt and take it off. I haven't had friends, besides my sister, since the accident. Gives you a lot of free time to work out. My skin actually looks normal, too. I hear no response in words from Rosen, but his gasp tells me a lot. "Yeah, I'm strong."

I pull back on my shirt and leave the room. I overheard some others saying the training center was on the basement. I get on the elevator and am confirmed to be correct when Marabelle steps on. "Hey, stranger." She says. I nod at her. "Saw you on the chariots. You were great. I think between the two of us we could scratch up some sponsors." She pauses and awkwardly holds out her hand. "Ally?"

I almost take it and stop. "If we become allies, then Indianna has to be in our alliance as well."

She shrugs. "That cute little thing? With her, if she scores well on the training, we'll certainly get sponsors." We go down the elevator with no interruptions.

The room is opened up and it is a big gym with lots of stations to practice at. There is a plant station that teaches about edible plants but Marabelle says she knows what plats are and aren't edible. She grew up around trees. She looks over at the weapons and picks up a sword. It seems a bit big and heavy for her. "You got that?" She nods and picks it up easily. I forget she is used to an ax.

I look over at the heavy spears and pick one up easily in my scarred hands. I chunk it at a dummy but it goes too far, several feet too far, and lodges itself into a wall. A few of the gamemakers look up from there notes and see the mess. I'm screwed now.

The rest of the training goes by in a blur. I throw some things, lift some things, fight some folks, train to win, yet everything seems to be against me. Sitting outside the training center, Indianna is giving her test and she is talented, for her age. "Thimble Harris, District Eight."

I sit on the couch, my hands folded neatly. They are announcing the scores in a few moments. Indianna is bouncing in her seat. She seems nervous, despite all her efforts. She was able to memorize lots of edible plants, learn to climb tall trees and learned how to be able to get into tall skinny branches. "Lana Pavati, score eight." That's the highest a female tribute has scored so far.

Indianna looked at me, her big blue eyes filling with tears. "I'm scared Thimble. What if I'm not good enough? What if I die?"

I grab a blanket from the back of the couch and shrug it around her shoulders. "You'll be good enough. I won't let anyone hurt you. You trust me don't you?" When she lets out a small nod I give her a hug.

"Marabelle Willis, score of seven."

"We're allying with her, aren't we?" She looks tired, like she is about to fall asleep at any moment. I put her head on my lap and nod.

"Thimble Harris, score of eight." Indianna lets out a smile. She is glad I scored high enough to seem like I can protect her. "Indianna Neer, score of-" The next few seconds come slowly as Indianna's score flashes on the screen. "Seven."

"I told you there was nothing to worry about. It's all that skill, charm and cuteness you've got."

She nods, and then nods off on my lap. District nine goes by with nothing worthy of notes. The District Ten boy scores a six. My breath is taken away when I see Abeline on the screen. She looks beautiful, not even remotely deadly. I'm not sure if she can be. "Abeline Carrow. Score of ten." Ten is the highest in the games so far. I wonder what she did to make the game makers have their eyes set on her. She's fair, no doubt, but have that much skill too? I can only pray she'll ally with me. I don't want to have to kill her.

**Okay some cool stuff is going to happen soon. Only one more chapter until the games begin! I did start writing a new story and it's called "Search the Alaskan Sky for You" and it is a modern day Finnick and Annie love story where Finnick is a cop and Annie is (well, you'll have to read to find that out) Please review and check both of them out. I have put a lot of time and effort into these projects and am trying to do a better job updating. Every time I get a review I smile. **

**I would like to thank XxNoGoodDeedxX and SilverVOID for favoriting this story. It means a lot. I would also like to thank AnOddThing, TGPH, XxNoGoodDeedxX and SilverVOID for following the story. That means a lot too. **

**Please leave a review because each one makes me smile and inspired to write more. Tell me everything. What y'all want to see happen in the story, where I could improve, where I truly and honestly suck, this story is all for y'all! Please and thanks. (128 views, maybe a few notes to make me better?)**

**-Juliet's Shadow**


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